1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to mechanism adjusting the gap between a recording medium and a recording head and a recording apparatus including the mechanism.
It is assumed herein that ink jet printers, copy machines, fax machines and the like are included in the recording apparatus.
2. Related Art
In the related art, a recording apparatus includes a carriage movable in the scanning direction of the recording head, and on the lower face of the carriage a recording head is provided ejecting ink towards a recording face of a recording medium. Such a recording apparatus executes recording on envelopes, thick paper and optical discs, in addition to regular paper, as a recording medium.
Because the thicknesses of these recording media differ, there is a need for the gap between the recording head and the support face of the recording medium to be changed according to the recording medium, since the distance between the recording face of the recording medium and the recording head changes. Therefore, in a recording apparatus there is a unit adjusting the gap by causing the carriage to move in a direction adjusting the gap between the support face of the recording medium and the recording head according to the type of recording medium (see, for example, JP-A-2010-23501).
In such a recording apparatus, a sliding portion moving in the scanning direction along with the carriage is provided on the rear face side of the carriage, and the sliding portion has a configuration sliding in contact with a direct guide portion. Furthermore, a gap control member is provided interposed between the sliding portion and the carriage. The gap control member is configured so as to change the thickness of the intersecting direction along the scanning direction.
In addition, a displaceable switching member is provided in the chassis of the recording apparatus to freely advance and retreat within the range in which the gap control member slides. In the recording apparatus, by causing the switching portion to abut on the sliding gap control member, and the gap control member to relatively move in the scanning direction with respect to the carriage, the carriage is caused to move in the intersecting direction, and the gap between the recording head and the recording medium is adjusted.
In addition, the recording apparatus includes a support portion provided above the gap control member in the height direction of the recording apparatus. The support portion is formed integrally with the chassis of the recording apparatus, and supports the upper end portion of the carriage. In so doing, the posture of the carriage is maintained by the upper end portion of the carriage being in pressing contact with the support portion under its own weight.
However, in the recording apparatus, the dimensions of the carriage increase in the height direction of the recording apparatus since the support portion is provided above the gap control member, and miniaturization in the height direction of the recording apparatus is difficult. Therefore, there is a recording apparatus in which the front face side and rear face side of the carriage in the apparatus depth direction of the recording apparatus each include a gap adjusting member adjusting the gap and supporting the carriage (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4730481).
In the recording apparatus, both ends of the gap adjusting member in the slide direction protrude from the carriage main body. The recording apparatus adjusts the gap by causing the carriage to be moved in the scanning direction, and changing the slide position of the gap adjusting member by both ends in the slide direction being abutted on abutting sites respectively provided at both ends of a pair of guide frames.